Nicolas Cage 'screaming' before his arrest

Nicolas Cage was "screaming" in the street before being arrested in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The 47-year-old actor - who was taken into police custody over the weekend after allegedly pushing wife Alice Kim during a drunken row - stunned onlookers with his behaviour in New Orleans as the pair argued over which house they were renting in the French Quarter of the city.

Barman and local street performer Peter Bennett - who lives near the properties the couple were arguing over - told People: "Apparently he had mistaken the house of my neighbours for the other house up the block that he is actually renting. His wife was trying to persuade him from disturbing the elderly couple who do in fact live in that house.

"He was running around and screaming in the street."

According to Bennett, Cage - who is filming a movie in the area - is actually renting the house three doors down and when police officers arrived, the National Treasure star started to get into the back passenger-side door of the car.

He added: "But the cop got out, walked around, and Cage ran a block south toward the river, where he tried to get into a cab. There was a woman outside with a baby in her arms shouting, 'Please don't hurt us.'"

The Oscar-winning actor was then arrested after an officer ordered him out of the cab, and according to an inmate at a nearby jail, was "intoxicated" while in the prison's holding area.

The inmate added: "He was drunk. He wasn't in a cell. He was behind the counter with all the other officers."

After being bailed by Dog the Bounty Hunter, Cage is due in court to face charges on May 31.

- BANG! Showbiz